A former Buffalo Bills 2025 draft pick has found a new team, close to one week into training camp.
The Green Bay Packers announced that they signed former Bills wide receiver Kaden Prather, who was released by the Bills just after the end of last year’s preseason. He went on to have a successful season in the UFL and is now hoping it can springboard him back into the NFL.
Kaden Prather Earned New NFL Opportunity
Prather had a short and disappointing tenure with the Bills, coming to the team on a seventh-round draft pick but failing to impress through training camp and the preseason. He dealt with a hamstring injury through training camp and appeared in just one preseason game, dropping his only target.
The Bills cut ties with Prather before the 2025 final cut deadline, after the team had dropped its final preseason game in a 38-0 blowout to the Chicago Bears. After the game, then-head coach Sean McDermott expressed frustration with the team’s dismal play.
“Certainly not up to our standards,” McDermott told reporters after the game. “Playing against their ones I expect, we expect to compete with them and that wasn’t the case early, and then our twos against their twos and threes, it didn’t get much better.
“We got to look at it and figure some things out, evaluate some of the guys, as well, and see where we stand there… I thought we had some momentum coming off that [joint] practice, which I thought was a good practice for us. Tonight, however, not even close. I was looking forward to seeing some guys with the opportunity tonight step up, and didn’t sense that as much as I’d hoped.”
Prather had a productive college career split between West Virginia and Maryland, making 162 receptions for 1,966 yards and 12 touchdowns.
After missing out with the Bills, Prather spent the 2025 season recovering from his hamstring injury and did not play in the NFL. He signed with the UFL’s Louisville Kings for the recently ended season, making nine receptions for 148 yards during the regular season and one reception for one yard during the team’s championship playoff run.
Bills Added New Competition to WR Room
The Bills saw their wide receivers struggle at times during the 2025 season, prompting the team to make two late-season additions by signing Mecole Hardman and claiming Brandin Cooks off waivers. Though the team chose not to re-sign Cooks in free agency, Hardman is expected to face a fight for a roster spot this summer.
The Bills added more competition to the wide receiver room, using a fourth-round draft pick on wide receiver Skyler Bell. Former Bills defensive back Dean Marlowe, who returned to the team as a safety and fellowship coach, had a lofty comparison for the rookie.
“He honestly reminds me of a younger [Stefon] Diggs,” Marlow said on The Film Room, via Sports Illustrated’s Alex Brasky. “And he might be a little bit faster.”
“Skyler Bell has done a fabulous job,” continued Marlowe. “He doesn’t look like a rookie to me.”
Ex-Bills 2025 Draft Pick WR Lands With New Team After Struggles in Buffalo